Universal War: Part I
by ObeSlifRa
Summary: This story takes place between the original StarCraft and Brood War. A threat even greater than Kerrigan is emerging, and only the teamwork of all three races can stop it before it's too late. The first of a six part series. Please R&R.
1. Fighting in the Installation

_**Universal War: Part I**_

Setting: This story takes place between the original Starcraft, and Brood War campaigns.

Disclaimer: I don't own Starcraft. Enjoy the story.

_**Fighting Through the Installation**_

Three terran dropships were flying above Tarsonis. Inside were ten marines, five firebats, two medics, and inside one, was the famous Jim Raynor himself. As they approached, Raynor stood up and gave a moral-boosting speech to his men. "Alright men, listen up and listen good. We have a good chance at bringing in Mengsk, and making him pay for what he did to Kerrigan, but we need to weaken his armies first. This, my friends, is why we're here; to destroy whatever forces he may have in this area. Once they are defeated, we can go in, defeat Mengsk, and then worry about Kerrigan. There are three clans of Confederates here, and they won't be easy to crack, but we can do it. Take no prisoners; we'll talk after we land."

Raynor's soldiers nodded their allegiance.

When the ships landed, everyone disembarked, and the ships evacuated the area. Once outside the installation, Raynor disengaged the safety on his rifle, and the other marines followed suite. The firebats disengaged the safety on their flamethrowers and the medics retrieved their medical kits. Then, once everyone was done, Raynor said, "Alright everyone, let's go." They cautiously entered the installation.

They had just about entered the installation, when Raynor ordered everyone to stop. They hid behind the line of consoles attached to the wall of the room closest to where they came in. Footsteps could be heard coming towards them, and then voices became audible. "You boys better get ready, because training is gonna be harder than usual today."

Raynor took a quick peak past the console, and what he saw was not too pleasing. About ten marines in white uniforms, rifles in hand, were in some sort of a gun range in the installation. To make matters worse, not only would there be no cover once they leave the protective cover of the consoles, but the subplating on the floor would instantly give way to their presence. Raynor thought, and then he whispered to his men, "You five marines, there are ten marines playing target practice. We have to sneak far enough past the console to shoot enough marines, and keep ourselves alive. When I give the signal, tread out of the cover of the consoles, and shoot like hell until you get spotted, then get back to cover. Understand?"

The five marines nodded. Raynor took a peak, and saw the Confederates with their backs towards the group. Raynor signaled with a wave of his right hand, and seconds later, he and the five marines inch wormed their way out from the cover of the consoles. They were about ready to fire, when one of the Confederates turned and spotted the marines. "Over there, intruders. Blast them!"

But Raynor and his marines were too quick. They got the first shots out. They had fatally shot four Confederates before having to get back to their cover. However, the Confederates had also managed to fatally shoot two marines, and shoot one in the arm. While the Confederates reloaded, Raynor and the marines shot at the Confederates, and vice versa. Then, Raynor heard exactly what he feared would be inevitable. "Intruders are in the installation, repeat, intruders are in the installation." 'Damn, now the whole installation knows we're here.'

The firefight continued, and in moments, all ten Confederate soldiers were dead. But the marines had taken quite a toll themselves. Only five of the marines remained, and one medic was killed in the fray as well, leaving Raynor with five marines, all five firebats, and one medic. "Is everyone okay?" asked Raynor. He looked at his forces, and didn't need an answer. The firebats and the medic were good to go, but not his marines. Two marines were shot in the arm, and one in the leg. With only himself and two marines without injury, nothing would be accomplished except the death of the entire group. 'We need help, and we need it bad,' he thought.

Then, as if reading his mind, one of the marines pointed directly ahead. "Look, a beacon. If we can get there, we can transport in some reinforcements."

Raynor nodded in agreement. "We'd just better hope it isn't guarded."

Luckily, it wasn't. Raynor ran to the console by the beacon and ordered in reinforcements. In seconds, five goliaths, and three vultures appeared. "Nice to see ya." Raynor called.

"Just glad to help," replied the lead goliath.

The group advanced further, but were again stopped a few rooms away by voices of Confederate soldiers. Raynor peaked behind the doorway, and saw about another ten marines, and five firebats in the area, also wearing white uniforms. Earlier, this would have been a nightmare for Raynor, but with his new armored units, it wasn't now. He ordered the goliaths to go through the doorway and mow down the Confederates. They did, and in seconds, the room was clear.

The group continued on, the goliaths and the vultures leading, followed by the infantry. Then, about two yards into the installation, a sea of bullets and grenades hit the vehicles. They opened returned fire, but they were too late, for two vultures and one goliath were destroyed. The infantry behind the vehicles hid for a moment for some cover. "Damn it," Raynor groaned, "they have goliaths and vultures here also."

By the time the firefight was done, only Raynor, two firebats, two marines, three goliaths, two vultures and the medic remained. Cautiously they pressed on. 'Those white dressed confederates were tough, but those brown dressed ones were tougher. I sure hope the third tribe of Confederates isn't even tougher than these brown ones are.' Raynor thought.

They went on for about five minutes more, with not even a peep of enemy forces. Then they reached a room with a beacon inside. Each member of the group knew that this beacon was a transporter. Ever so cautiously, Raynor and the infantry crept towards the control panel. Raynor reached it and pressed a few buttons. But as he did, bullets flew through the air, and he and his company retreated towards the goliaths and vultures. "What the...?"

"An ambush sir," the medic replied, "they got the marines and firebats." They had to dodge a few bullets, and Raynor shot the two soldiers firing them. The medic continued. "I couldn't reach them in time, so we only have the goliaths and vultures remaining."

An explosion rocked the installation. Raynor and the medic took a peak, as one of the goliaths exploded. "They've brought in more vehicles."

"I know," the medic explained, "only a vulture would create an explosion like that."

In time, the firefight ended. But again, Raynor's group suffered heavy casualties. Only he, the medic, one goliath and one vulture remained.

Raynor ran to the control panel and activated the transporter. "Vehicles first." He ordered.

The goliath went on first, then the vulture, and then Raynor and the medic went on at the same time. They arrived in the opposite side of the installation. There was no sign of any Confederates yet, but they all knew that could change rapidly.

Again, Raynor and the medic followed the vehicles. There was another five minute walk without any sign of Confederate soldiers.

Then, at Raynor's urging, they stopped. He saw another beacon, and a prison cell next to it. In the cell were three marines, who were filled with joy at the sight of Raynor. "Hey man, help us outta here will ya?"

Raynor did. Then he went to the control panel, and entered a sequence of buttons, and two goliaths, two vultures, one siege tank and one ghost appeared.

They progressed not too much more, when bullets flew. The goliaths, vultures and the siege tank fired at the enemy soldiers, who were now wearing red. But these forces were much stronger than the other tribes, for now they were being attacked by infantry, vultures, goliaths, and even siege tanks.

"All vehicles except goliaths, destroy the vehicles," Raynor ordered, "everyone else, go for the infantry."

But that was easier said than done. A ghost had just locked down the siege tank, and the goliaths and vultures were almost on the verge of falling apart. The infantry weren't in much better shape.

Soon, the firefight was done, and like before, the casualties on Raynor's side were great as well. Only he, the medic, and two marines remained. Raynor looked at the thermal meter in his hand, and was happy at the sight. They had beaten all the Confederate forces. "Job's done men, let's head out."

Everyone left the installation, and entered the lone dropship waiting outside. The dropship took off, and all everyone thought about all the men and vehicles that were lost.

"Well," Raynor said, trying to sound positive, "we accomplished our mission, so none of our men died in vain." As he had expected, his speech didn't help matters much.

Then, the COM link in the dropship beeped. Raynor approached the link and listened to the message. A hologram of a marine was speaking urgently. "Mayday, mayday, this is Outpost 1 on Shakuras. We're being attacked by the Protoss, and we need any help that we can get. I repeat, we need help, over and out."

The hologram disappeared, but Raynor continued looking as if it were there with great confusion. 'What the hell? Why would the Protoss attack us? We're supposed to be friends.'

The two marines approached. "You think the Protoss are turning on us Jim?" One asked.

"I don't know what to think," he replied, "all I know, is we have to get to that base and prevent it from falling to those Protoss." He flicked a switch on the COM and was shocked at what he saw. The Terran base was on one side of a river, and two Protoss bases were on the other side. "This is going to be tough boys, with that much manpower; we'll be overpowered in no time."

As if on cue, a voice came through the COM link. "Perhaps we can help, _human_."

The three men stepped back. A hologram of a Zerg drone appeared.

"Help us with what?" Raynor asked.

"Protecting your base of course," the drone replied.

Raynor chuckled. "That would be awfully nice of you, but why would you wanna do that for us _humans_?"

"Because we are struggling against the might of the Protoss as well," it explained, "and besides; we're on the same side of the river. We could be allies. I know you don't trust me, human; but you know your forces cannot last long against those Protoss on their own, and neither can we. The choice is yours."

Raynor was silent. He didn't trust the Zerg drone at all. But then again, it was right, alone they could not last against the Protoss, but together, they might have had a shot. He turned to the two marines. "What do you think boys?"

Each marine pondered for a few seconds, and eventually, both decided in favor of allying themselves with the Zerg- at least for now.

"Okay drone," Raynor said, "we'll agree to be partners- for now. Just don't turn on us, or you'll wish you were losing to those Protoss out there. Understand?"

"Yes, human." It responded. "Once you reach your base, contact me; we'll come up with some way to defeat the Protoss. Goodbye." The hologram disappeared.

The three looked at each other.

"Boys," Raynor finally broke the silence, "let's get to that base, and hope those Zerg don't have a full appetite."

They each took their seats, and the dropship flew on course to Shakuras, everyone hoping that this wouldn't be the last time they could see the sky from a dropship.


	2. The Traitorous Protoss

_**The Traitorous Protoss**_

The dropship arrived at the outpost at around 0900 hours and set down in minutes. Raynor and the others exited and walked towards the Terran Command Center. Outside, one marine was waiting. "Sir, there are two Protoss bases on the other side of the river. We can't beat them until we build a Starport, but with how little we've been able to develop, that can take a while."

Raynor looked at the outpost. Not too far away, there was a Barracks to the right, four Supply Depots to the east, and a Refinery to the north. Two SCV's were currently gathering gas from the Refinery, and two more were gathering the minerals that were right next the Refinery. He then looked in the direction of the river. He could see one of the Protoss tribes across from the river building up, and Photon Cannons completely covering the coastline being powered by Pylons. "Looks like we're in a bit of a jam here."

"What do you suggest we do Jim?" the marine asked.

Raynor looked back at the marine. "How many minerals and how much gas do we have?"

"We have exactly 1000 minerals and 500 vespine gas."

"Fine," Raynor said, "listen up, build eight more SCV's, place four on gas, four on minerals. Then start training marines as fast as you can. Those Protoss over there are really cranking it, so we better start too. "

The marine gave a nod. "Understood."

"Good. Now, do you have a vulture I can use?"

The marine led Raynor to a vulture by the Barracks. "Our Factory was destroyed but fortunately we were able to save one vulture."

Raynor replied. "Good. I'm gonna borrow this. Follow the instructions I gave you until I get back."

"Yes sir."

Raynor hopped onto the vulture and sped off down the southern part of the island. The ride seemed to take forever, but after five minutes, he finally saw his destination. Ahead was a Zerg outpost, one with a wall of Spore Colonies covering the coastline, much like that of the Protoss across the river, a Hatchery where the drones were dropping off their resources, an Extractor and a Spawning Pool. 'This better not be a trick, otherwise I'm gonna be pissed.'

Raynor rode the vulture into the Zerg base. It was an eerie feeling driving into a Zerg base and not destroying it. He rode towards the Hatchery. Outside waiting was a drone, which appeared slightly larger than any normal drone. "Hello Raynor," it hissed, "are your men ready to attack the Protoss?"

Raynor got off his vulture and shook his head. "Not yet, I just got here." Raynor looked again in the direction of the river. He could see the other band of Protoss warriors preparing for invasion. "We don't have much time."

"I have drones gathering minerals and gas as we speak," the drone explained, "and we're creating new drones, overlords and zerglings as well."

'Never thought I'd be happy to hear that,' Raynor thought, "Can you Zerg take out the Protoss forces directly across from you, and we'll do the same?"

The drone nodded. "Yes, we can. You better get back to your forces before you have none left."

Raynor turned to leave, but stopped. While turning back around, he asked the drone, "Not for nothing, but how is it that you can speak English? I thought Zerg couldn't speak that language."

The drone grinned. "We have our ways."

"We?"

The drone just grinned.

A chill ran down Raynor's spine. But he couldn't do anything about it now; he had to get back to base. "Good luck." Raynor ran to his vulture, hopped on and sped off.

Upon returning to base, Raynor wasn't happy. The Protoss across the river were _already_ attacking his forces. 'Damn it.' He gunned the throttle.

Fortunately, the attack force the Protoss had sent was not very large, only six zealots strong. But their shields made them extremely formidable. Ten marines were firing on the zealots, the yellow lights in the Barracks blinking, signaling more units being trained.

By now, Raynor was in range of the zealots. He pulled the trigger, and a grenade flew from the gun in front, severely weakening three of the zealots. He pulled the trigger again, weakening them some more. He fired another grenade, and one of the zealots turned into blue smoke.

The six remaining marines slowly withdrew towards Raynor, running and then firing in short intervals; Raynor firing grenades at the zealots at the same time.

Finally, all six zealots were dead.

Raynor looked around at his men. All six were in good health, and could still fight a battle whenever they were needed. He then looked at the base. The Command Center and two of the Supply Depots were damaged, but they could be repaired easily. As well as the buildings that were there before he had left, there was now an Academy slightly south of the Barracks, and an Engineering Bay next to it. There were also three more marines, and two medics outside the Barracks. Also, like Raynor had ordered, four more SCV's were gathering minerals, and four more were gathering vespene gas.

"We got 'em sir," one of the marines said, maybe now we can start building up a little better."

Raynor was looking across the river. "I don't think now's a good time."

The marine looked stunned, "What…" he looked across the river and saw the logic to Raynor's statement. Two shuttles were on their way. "Ah crap!"

"Cursing isn't going to help us here," Raynor said. "Wait by the coastline, once those shuttles get in range, shoot them down."

"Yes sir,"

Raynor sped off to the SCV's. Once he reached them, he ordered them to stop what they were doing. Once they did, he ordered, "You three, start building Missile Turrets on the coastline. We have two shuttles coming in, and we don't want to be caught off guard like this again. You two, start building Bunkers on the coastline as well. The rest of you, gather minerals.

When the SCV's acknowledged, Raynor sped off on his vulture back to the coastline, with five of the SCV's trailing behind. When he reached the coastline, the shuttles were almost in range of the marines. In a moment, Raynor gave the order, and the marines fired at the shuttles. The shuttles were taking damage, but everyone knew that it would not be enough to destroy them before they unloaded their cargo. Raynor looked at the five SCV's building the Missile Turrets and Bunkers. The Missile Turrets were 25 done, the Bunkers were even less.

In almost a minute, the shuttles reached land. Everyone on the ground knew that in a few seconds, they would be staring down the barrel of some Protoss unit's blaster, or their sharp blade.

At the last possible second, both shuttles unloaded their cargo. One unloaded four zealots, the other unloaded two dragoons. In seconds, all the Protoss forces were attacking the marines, and vice versa.

The two dragoons fired at the marines, while the zealots made their way closer. It was a very effective strategy, for the Terrans could not keep firing at the Protoss while dodging the cannons from the dragoons.

Raynor was the only Terran who refused to move. He continually pulled the trigger on his vulture, attacking the zealots. He had killed two zealots, but in seconds, the dragoons switched their target from the marines, to _him_. Raynor fired twice, counteracting their blows, but he knew he couldn't hold out much longer. To make matters even worse, the zealots had finally reached the marines. He was on his own, for the moment.

Then, Raynor had an idea. It would be tricky and dangerous, but it would be better than just keeping the stalemate going. He gunned the throttle and sped towards the marines and zealots. He pulled the trigger, and a grenade shot at the zealots. When it hit the rear zealot, he had apparently taken severe damage from the marines because in seconds, he just withered away into blue smoke. He then fired again at the remaining zealot, but it was too fast for him. The zealot dodged the grenade. However, that dodge had given the marines the time they needed to shoot the zealot with their U-238 bullets, wipe out his shields, and then destroy him.

Now back to the dragoons, who had never stopped firing at Raynor through the whole stunt. Raynor turned his vulture around and fired grenades at the dragoons. At the same time, the marines fired at the dragoons as well. The marines soon killed one dragoon, and Raynor had destroyed the other. However, it was not before in a last ditch effort, the dragoon had fired at Raynor's vulture, and _hit_. His grenade launcher on the vulture was destroyed. But at the very least, this battle was over.

Raynor surveyed his men. Miraculously, only three marines were killed. 'Damn, that stuff they ate on the dropship was the food of champions.' Raynor then surveyed the Bunkers and Missile Turrets that were being built earlier. Six Missile Turrets were finished, and four Bunkers were completed as well. He then gazed across the river towards the Protoss, and was ecstatic at the sight. The Protoss were not building up. 'Good, this should give us time to get ready to actually take the offensive fairly soon.'

An SCV approached Raynor. "What now sir?"

Raynor gazed at the Protoss forces across the river. "They aren't building up at the moment, so start constructing a Factory and a Starport. We'll need them in order to win this one."

The SCV left. Raynor then returned his attention to the marines. "Everyone into a Bunker boys, we don't want to get caught off guard again."

The marines entered the Bunkers. Raynor then bought his vulture over to the SCV's, and ordered one of them to repair it. In moments his vulture was repaired.

In a matter of minutes, the Factory was completed. Once completed, Raynor hopped off the vulture and entered the Academy. He approached the commander inside and ordered him to improve the range on the marines' U-238 weapons. Once the commander agreed, Raynor vacated the Academy and stood watch at the edge of the river. He wanted to see what they were doing, and also think of how to get passed those Photon Cannons.

Soon after, the Starport was built, and the range of the marines' weapons was increased greatly. 'Let's see,' Raynor thought to himself, 'in order to get passed those Photon Cannons, we've got to either wipe out a few Cannons, or a few Pylons. A few wraith attacks and loaded dropships should be able to at least get that part of the mission done.'

Raynor gave the order, and wraiths, dropships, and vultures were being built. Raynor then ordered a few SCV's off minerals to build Supply Depots.

Once the third wraith was built, along with three vultures, Raynor noticed a Protoss shuttle, and two scouts flying across the river. He smiled, 'those damn fools won't even know what hit them.'

Once in range, the Missile Turrets and the marines in the Bunkers fired at the three aircraft, though mainly concentrating on the shuttle. The slaughter was over in at most a minute.

By now, the Terrans had a total of five wraiths, two dropships, six marines not in Bunkers, and five vultures. Raynor gazed at the Protoss again, who were building up as usual. He knew that now was the best time to at least punch a hole in their defenses. "Alright everyone, the time has come for the first part of our attack. All wraiths, you're to target only the Photon Cannons! The Pylons can wait for another time. While you're attacking, the two dropships will unload me and anyone else who can fit on the other side. Hopefully, we can even get an SCV to start building up over there. More orders will come later. You guys ready?"

A unanimous cheer could be heard, inside and outside of the vehicles.

Raynor grinned. "I thought so. Good luck men, and give 'em hell!"

Raynor, atop his vulture entered a dropship with three marines and three SCV accompanying him, four vultures entering the other. The five wraiths took off in the direction of the Protoss, and in the following minute, the dropships followed.

Raynor's little pep rally had cheered everyone up, but everyone was still nervous about going into battle. Death could literally be waiting for them on that coastline. But everyone also knew that they had to do what they had to do. Raynor activated his COM-link and spoke into it, "All wraiths, I'm sure you already know this, but I'll say it anyway. Use caution when attacking those Cannons. Once the dropships are safely across the river, you can head back to base and repair yourselves. Good luck."

For five minutes, the rides in the dropships were silent as a ghost town. Then they heard it, the unmistakable sound of a Photon Cannon. They were in range of the Protoss defenses.

"This may get a little bumpy boys," the dropship pilot explained.

The men looked out the windows of the dropships. The Photon Cannons were doing exactly what they had hoped they would… concentrating all fire on the wraiths. The blue balls of plasma flew towards the wraiths at great speed, and the wraiths dodged them, while trying to destroy the Cannons. Like an army of one, the wraiths dodged and attacked not only at the same time, but the same Cannon.

The dropship pilots filled the dropships they were piloting. "We're almost at the coastline."

Raynor and his men were about to cheer, when they noticed a fireball outside one of the side windows… A wraith had been destroyed.

Four wraiths remained, and they continued their skillful attack and dodge combinations against the Cannons. But just as the dropships reached shore, the Photon Cannons switched targets. They were now aiming for the dropships!

Now the dropships dodged the plasma blasts, giving the wraiths a chance to attack the Cannons with no resistance. The four wraiths fired their blasters at the same Cannons, destroying one. They then made another pass, and did the same. Two Photon Cannons were now destroyed.

As Raynor and his men began to feel safe, they heard a huge explosion right next to them. They looked out the window just in time to see a fireball a few feet away. The dropship with the vultures had just been shot down. Almost right after, a faint explosion was heard. Another wraith was shot down. "Wraiths," Raynor commanded, "head back to base and repair, we're safely across. You did a good job; I just wish I could've helped you in my own wraith. Now, move out."

"Yes sir," the wraiths flew back to base, the Photon Cannons still firing at them all the while.

Seconds later, everyone disembarked from the dropship. Raynor gazed at the area around him. It was flat, therefore it could be built upon, but no minerals or vespine gas were in sight. Raynor turned his attention to the SCV's. "You two, build a Bunker each, and you build a Barracks. I'm gonna go take a ride down to see how the Zerg are doing with their part of the bargain. I'll be back soon." Raynor then zoomed toward the south end of the island.

In two minutes, Raynor reached the Protoss base. He stopped his vulture out of range of their base defenses and hopped off. Ever so cautiously, he eased his way towards the base. About thirty seconds later, Raynor heard the fire of a Photon Cannon. Originally he thought the blast was aimed at him, but he soon realized the gravity of his mistake. Across the river were nine mutalisks and four overlords. This attack went the exact same way as it did with Raynor and his teammates. The Cannons ignored the overlords and fired repeatedly at the mutalisks. 'Never thought I'd see the day where I was actually _glad _to see a Zerg invasion.'

The mutalisks fired at the Cannons, but unlike when Raynor and his teammates attacked, here the Protoss had Dragoons providing support fire. The cannon in the middle of the dragoons tops opened, and balls of plasma shot out. One such blast aimed directly at a mutalisk and hit. The mutalisk roared in pain and died. Then as if that weren't enough, the Protoss Stargate activated.

'This isn't good,' thought Raynor, 'they'll need my help for this one.' Raynor ran back to his vulture, hopped on and raced towards the Protoss base. He encountered a few shots from the two Photon Cannons guarding the northern part of the base, but everything else was concentrating on the Zerg. Raynor dodged the balls of plasma coming from the Photon Cannons and rode past the Cannons. He continued on in a zigzag formation until he reached the dragoons and Photon Cannons on the coastline. Raynor then pulled the trigger and a grenade flew from the vulture and exploded right next to a dragoon. Raynor did this again, killing another dragoon.

By now, the overlords had reached the coastline, and only five mutalisks remained. In seconds, they unloaded. Two overlords unloaded eight zerglings each, another unloaded four hydralisks, and the fourth unloaded three hydralisks, one zergling, and a drone. The zerglings immediately attacked any Photon Cannon in their path, while the hydralisks attacked the remaining dragoons. The drone just stayed a safe distance away from the battle.

By now, Raynor was almost in over his head with the dragoons. Eight of them were concentrating their fire on him. Raynor was dodging their blasts as best he could, but he knew he couldn't hold out much longer. Then an idea came to him. He zoomed towards the Zerg invaders, who were now decimating the Protoss base with ease. The dragoons followed him, firing all the while. When Raynor was out of range, they followed him. They continued following him, but they failed to notice the spider mine that Raynor had left behind. As the dragoons in the center stepped above the mine, it surfaced and lunged at the closest dragoon and exploded. The explosion killed six of the dragoons and severely damaged the other two.

Hearing the explosion, the Zerg forces looked to see what was happening. They looked just in time to see Raynor kill the final dragoon. Then the zerglings continued decimating the base, and the hydralisks destroyed the Photon Cannons that were at one time guarding the northern part of the base.

In a matter of moments, all that was left of the Protoss base was the golden rubble of the Protoss buildings, and some blue blood stains from the Protoss dragoons.

'Good,' Raynor thought, 'one base down, one to go.' As he finished his thought, he saw the Zerg forces approaching him, bloodlust evident in their faces. 'Don't tell me they forgot I'm their ally already.' The Zerg stopped in front of them. Raynor just stood there. He wasn't scared, but he was nervous. He didn't show this on his face at all. He just stared at the Zerg as if he were saying "make your next move."

Ever so slowly, the Zerg retreated back to where the drone was.

Upon seeing him, Raynor thought, 'Is that the same drone I was speaking to before?'

As if he had read his thoughts, the drone gave a nod. "Thank you for your help, human," it hissed.

Raynor gave a slow nod, then turned and started to walk away.

"How well situated on this island are you?" the drone asked.

Raynor stopped and turned to face the drone again. "When I left my forces, I ordered them to build a Barracks and some Bunkers, but that was five minutes ago. Speaking of my men, I got to get back."

"We'll help you when we can," the drone explained, "Go."

Without another word, Raynor went back to his vulture and drove off. When he reached his forces, the Barracks and three Bunkers were built, each loaded with marines. Raynor approached one of the SCV's, "We're gonna need vehicles here, get started on a Factory as soon as possible."

"Yes sir." The SCV left to carry out the order.

Raynor then looked at the Barracks. The yellow lights were blinking, so infantry were being trained. Next, he looked north. The Protoss base was not in sight, so he had no way of knowing what was coming unless they gave some kind of warning sign. He then looked back at the outpost his men had constructed. A marine had just been trained and had exited the Barracks. He sped his vulture over towards the marine.

"Yes sir," the marine said when Raynor reached him.

"Keep training men," Raynor told him, "I'm gonna go scout out the Protoss base to our north."

"Very well sir," replied the marine. "Just try not to do anything too reckless, will ya?"

Raynor grinned. "You don't need to worry about that soldier; I save that for when I've got company with me."

After the marine returned a grin, Raynor gunned the throttle and drove north. It took almost two minutes to reach the base. He parked the vulture out of sight range, and then walked to a tree a safe distance away. Once there, he took a mental note about how their base was set up. Three Photon Cannons were guarding the base from the south, being powered by two Pylons. Up north a considerable distance was a Starport, and a Cybernetics Core, separated by a Pylon. Directly above the Pylon was a Forge, and a few feet away was a Gateway with three dragoons outside. Up further north was their Nexus, where the probes were bringing in the resources they had gathered. 'Hm, doesn't seem too difficult,' Raynor thought, 'better get back and get the men ready for the final assault.'

Raynor backed away from the tree and ran to the vulture. He was just within sight range of it, when he saw two zealots approach the vulture from the direction of his outpost. 'Dammit,' Raynor thought. 'Just what I need right about now.' He analyzed his surroundings and saw a big rock to his right. He hurried to the rock and hid behind it.

"Look at this," Raynor heard one of the zealots say, "a Terran vulture."

"Yes," replied the other, "and the pilot isn't here."

"He must have gone to scout out our base," the first one explained.

"Do you think he's nearby?"

"I don't know. Let's wait here; he'll have to come back for his vehicle sometime. When he does, we'll kill him."

Raynor was not happy. He looked around the rock towards the zealots, and then looked around the other side of the rock. The terrain was all open, making a concealed escape utterly impossible. 'Alright Raynor, _think! _What do I do now?'

Suddenly, his anxiety doubled. The three dragoons he had seen in the base were heading in _his _direction. "Just keeps getting better all the time," he said sarcastically to himself. There was no where else to hide, and in seconds, the dragoons would see him. 'Should I choose the pan or the fire?' Raynor took one more look past the rock at the zealots. Then like a flash, his mind was made up.

Raynor quickly pulled himself behind the opposite side of the rock. If his luck held, he could avoid sight of the dragoons, and prolong being caught by the zealots for as long as possible. He didn't hear any words or blasts from the dragoons, so he knew the first wish of his worked. But the second wish didn't. In seconds, one of the zealots saw him.

"There he is," the first zealot said. "Get him."

Raynor was not surprised by this, in fact, he expected it. But now that there was no escape, Raynor's reflexes kicked in. Raynor stood up and ran as fast as his legs could carry him along the coastline. Not only were the zealots closing in on him, but he heard the dragoon's fire in his direction. He was caught all around.

Raynor stopped running. The zealots were cornering him, and the dragoons were just about to do the same. But just as he was about to give up, he remembered that he still had one option left. He looked to his right; he was literally inches from the deep, wide river. Raynor ran to the coast, and with all his might, he bent both legs and with one leg, kicked off. He dove into the water and swam down, and down some more. While he was doing this, he saw one plasma blast from a dragoon travel downward in front of him, and heard another one just centimeters from his legs. 'Good thing I can hold my breath for a while,' Raynor thought. Once he was down two feet under the water, he swam south towards the Terran outpost. He swam until he could hold his breath no longer. He swam upward, and once his head emerged from the water, he took a gigantic breath. Once he had his air supply return to him, he looked to see where he was. As he had hoped, he had lost the Protoss forces who were trailing him, and the outpost was in sight range.

When Raynor entered the outpost from the water, any marine not in a Bunker ran over to him, and the ones in the Bunkers all vacated the Bunkers and went to see Raynor and find out what was going on.

"Sir, what were you doing in the water?" one marine asked.

Raynor, who had just got his second wind under control replied, "Ditching the Protoss. I'll tell ya boys, they almost had me."

"Well," replied another marine, "we're glad you're still here sir. Who else can we look forward to wiseass comments from?"

Raynor gave a slight laugh. "Too true, too true. How are we doing? Are the Factory and Starport built yet?"

"The Factory is," another marine replied, "the Starport is still being worked on."

"Manpower? Vehicles?"

"Not counting the twelve of us in Bunkers, six marines, and five vultures."

Raynor gave a slight nod. "Good men. Keep building up, in a half hour we attack. In the meantime, I get some shut-eye. That swimming, running and holding my breath killed me. Either wake me then, or wake me if there's a real emergency."

"Yes sir," came the unanimous, sympathetic reply from the marines. Raynor went behind the right back leg of the Barracks, and plopped to the ground. In seconds, all he could see was black.

Twenty minutes later, Raynor woke with a start. An explosion had sounded nearby. Raynor emerged from underneath the Barracks and looked to the Bunkers. Five dragoons and eight zealots were attacking the Terran encampment. The zealots were attacking the marines, while the dragoons attacked the Bunkers, vultures, and Missile Turrets.

Another explosion filled the air. The dragoons had just destroyed a second Bunker, therefore leaving the Terrans with two. Raynor ran to the north where the battle was. He took out his rifle and fired at a zealot. In seconds he was dead, but the remaining zealots were now running towards him. 'What I'd give for that vulture right about now,' Raynor thought. Raynor fell back further into the outpost, firing and running in steady intervals.

Meanwhile, the marines and the vultures were concentrating on the dragoons. The dragoons concentrated on the marines. They fired and hit the ground directly underneath the marines, sending them flying at least five feet in the air. The vultures fired at the dragoons with their grenades. They exploded a fair distance away, but with their shields, the grenades were of little or no help.

Raynor was still falling back, still being trailed by the seven remaining zealots. Once Raynor reached the Barracks, he heard another explosion... an old, familiar one. Apparently, the vultures had planted spider mines throughout the encampment, and one had just exploded. He stopped to look back. Two zealots were unphased, but the others had completely lost their shields, and were not in good health.

Raynor took the opportunity for the offensive before their shields recharged. He fired his rifle continuously at the zealots. One by one, the five injured zealots were brought down by Raynor's shooting.

But Raynor still had one problem; the two healthy zealots were almost upon him. He would have no time to make a dash for escape. So, he aimed his rifle, and fired. If he was going to go, he'd go fighting.

Suddenly, blasts from above hit the two zealots. After eight blasts and Raynor's shooting, the two remaining zealots were dead. Raynor looked up, just in time to see eight wraiths fly overhead. He waved happily at them as they past.

Freed up, Raynor looked at his men, who were under attack by two of the five dragoons. Then he saw the wraiths blast the dragoons. Between the wraiths, marines and vultures, the two dragoons were destroyed in no time. 'We can't keep going like this,' Raynor thought, 'we have to attack now before the Protoss overrun us.'

But Raynor knew that was easier said than done. The Protoss attack had been the deadliest yet, eight marines were killed, and three vultures were destroyed.

"What now sir?" One marine asked.

Raynor was silent for half a minute, then finally replied, "We need to wipe out those Protoss now! We won't last much longer if we play defense." Raynor then gave the men a big grin. "I hope you guys are ready, because it's time to start the attack."

'About time,' they thought.

"All vehicles and wraiths are to concentrate on the enemy Photon Cannons," Raynor commanded. "All infantry are to attack their ground forces."

The marines saluted.

Raynor pointed north, "Let's go men. Wraiths and vehicles take the lead, we'll follow."

All the Terran forces went northward. For the marines and Raynor, it was a silent journey. They all hoped that the forces they had would be enough to defeat the Protoss.

In minutes, the marines reached the base, and were greeted by a huge explosion. A plasma blast from a Photon Cannon had hit one of the Terran vultures, causing it to explode and send metal debris flying. The wraiths and the vultures had already begun their attacks. Six Photon Cannons were guarding the Protoss base, along with ten zealots and six dragoons.

As another plasma blast destroyed another vulture, the zealots and dragoons had begun their charge against the two remaining vultures.

"Remember men," Raynor said, "Concentrate your attacks on the zealots and dragoons. Fire at will!"

The men charged, firing their rifles at the zealots and dragoons. In seconds, one zealot was killed, thus vaporizing into blue smoke. Seconds later, a dragoon was gunned down.

The dragoons fired at the marines. Only Raynor and five marines were able to jump out the way of the blasts, the rest went flying as the blasts hit. Upon their recovery, Raynor and the five marines fired at another dragoon. Its shields ran out and it was finally destroyed, when the three remaining dragoons fired again at the marines and Raynor. They dodged just in time.

While dodging, Raynor glanced at the vehicles and wraiths. All the vultures were destroyed, and four wraiths remained. Then a blast from a Photon Cannon hit another wraith, causing it to explode on impact. When he got back on his feet, the zealots were almost upon him and his men.

The marines and Raynor fired at one zealot at a time. In a few seconds, one was dead, but the remaining eight were almost upon them. The Terrans had to evade the Protoss. They dodged again, but this time, one marine wasn't so lucky. Before he could jump, a zealot swiped deeply into his neck. Now, the five men could only shoot off sporadic shots, evading the zealots and dragoons while staying alive was now their priority.

The remaining three wraiths were still attacking the Photon Cannons. They had destroyed three, some with help from the other wraiths before their destruction. They also had one Photon Cannon on the verge of collapse. The wraiths were on their next pass, when a blast from a Photon Cannon destroyed another wraith. Unfortunately, the wraith to the right of the fallen wraith had been damaged by the metal debris. The debris crashed into the wraith's right rudder, causing it to break off. "What the?" the pilot asked in disbelief. This confusion gave the Cannons the chance they needed. In seconds, a blast hit the injured wraith, destroying it.

By now, every Terran knew that the battle was lost. Raynor, four marines and one wraith would not be enough to destroy the base or the Protoss forces guarding it.

The zealots and dragoons surrounded the Terrans. There was no escape now.

"Well sir," one marine said to Raynor, "it's been nice knowin ya."

"I'm sure it was," Raynor replied.

'Joker to the end,' thought the marine.

As the zealots were about to charge, and the dragoon's fire... an unexpected thing happened. The dragoons did indeed fire, but _past _the Terrans to the left.

'What?' Raynor thought. He looked behind him, and was ecstatic at the sight.

Eighteen zerglings and ten hydralisks were on the way. However, some zerglings were killed by the shots from the dragoons. But the Protoss were still outnumbered. The Zerg forces swarmed together and lunged at the zealots. Though they did kill about five zerglings in the process, they were still vastly outnumbered, and in minutes, all the zealots were dead.

"Let's help them," Raynor said. He and the four marines fired their rifles at the remaining dragoons, while dodging their blasts. They only stopped after the Zerg swarm lunged on the dragoons, and destroyed them.

Once the dragoons were dead, the remaining Zerg and Terran forces quickly leveled the Protoss base. Once destroyed, the Terrans and Zerg cheered in their own languages. The Terrans stopped first.

"You guys do know that our asses were just saved by some Zerg creatures don't you guys?" One asked, not sure if he should believe the sight.

"Yep, we sure were," replied another marine.

'Hm,' Raynor thought, 'saved by the Zerg twice in one day... that's definitely something for the record books.'

The Terrans then gazed at the Zerg in awe. They were growling and howling the way they always did. Then, they turned and went back to their base.

"You think anyone's gonna believe this?" asked a marine.

"Who knows?" Raynor replied. Then a glint behind the minerals near what used to be the Protoss Nexus caught his eye. 'No way,' Raynor thought. Raynor ran, and in deed, it was what he thought it was. "My vulture."

Raynor got the vulture out from behind the minerals, and hopped on. "Head back to the encampment. I'll be back soon." He then zoomed off to the south.

In time, he reached where the Zerg had established their new base. He got off the vulture and walked to where the drones were gathering minerals. He looked for the drone with whom he had those discussions with earlier.

"You are a rugged one,"

Raynor jumped and turned backward. The drone was behind him. "Don't ever scare me like that again." Raynor said while trying to catch his breath from the shock.

"Come with me," the drone hissed, completely ignoring Raynor's last statement.

"For what?"

"My commander wants to see you."

"Your commander?" Raynor asked.

The drone slithered away form him. "Come with me," it said again.

Raynor thought for a moment, then decided to follow him. He followed the drone to the Hydralisk Den, which was not too far away from the Hatchery. In front was a hunter killer, standing proud and erect.

"Sir, the human is here."

"Excellent," the hunter killer hissed his words even slower than the drone.

Raynor was still trying to take in the situation. "What do you want?" Raynor asked.

The hunter killer approached Raynor. This must've caught Raynor off guard, because he pulled out his rifle and pointed it directly at the hunter killer. "Relax human, I don't want to hurt you. In fact, maybe we could... help each other."

"How?"

The hunter killer hissed in that slow, hypnotic voice, "A threat even greater than Kerrigan has emerged. An evil that's so powerful, if left unchecked, every galaxy in existence will be doomed."

"What kind of threat?"

The hunter killer looked in both directions before answering. "It's not safe to talk about it here. We must talk about this in a safer location."

Raynor was confused and unconvinced. "And I should believe you because?"

The hunter killer looked at Raynor as if it was grinning. "Because I highly doubt that you'll want to live as a slave for the rest of your life."

Raynor still wasn't convinced, but he figured he'd might as well play along... at least until he got some answers. "Where and when?"

"Tomorrow on Shakuras at 1100. I will send you my coordinates soon. Come alone."

"Why?"

"Trust me, you'll thank me for this." the hunter killer hissed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have many forces to maintain. I hope to see you tomorrow." An overlord approached him, and sucked the hunter killer into one of its ventral sacks, then flew away.

Seeing no point in staying, Raynor went back to his vulture and drove off. While he rode, he couldn't stop thinking about what he was just told. Was it true? Who was that hunter killer? Why did he need his help? Should he trust him? And most of all, if he did go, would this be a legitimate meeting of minds, or a desperate trap the Zerg had concocted. Halfway to the Terran encampment, Raynor made up his mind. 'I'll play along for now, hunter killer. You just better not blow it."

The End of Chapter 2


	3. An Unlikely Ally

_**An Unlikely Ally...**_

Raynor flew his battleship, the Hyperion to the place where he and the Zerg hunter killer were supposed to rendezvous. In time, Raynor arrived at Shakuras and got ready to land the Hyperion. The rendezvous was at the west end of a canyon. When he arrived, he had just enough room to land the Hyperion at the rendezvous point. The ramp lowered, and Raynor cautiously vacated the Hyperion. He looked around, expecting a Zerg ambush. But to his surprise, the hunter killer was there waiting for him, alone as promised.

"Hello human," it hissed.

Raynor wasn't in the mood for small talk. "What is this great threat you told me about earlier?"

This must've been funny to the hunter killer, because it seemed as if it was giving a short laugh. A few seconds later, the hunter killer replied. "It's not safe to discuss this here. Come with me to my base, and then we can talk."

'Don't do it Raynor,' Raynor thought to himself. 'This could be a trap.'

But there was something about this hunter killer that even though it didn't make him feel safe, it made him feel that he could be trusted. "Lead the way."

The hunter killer didn't even respond. It turned east and slithered down the canyon, with Raynor following from behind. They walked through the canyon for at least five minutes before another word was spoken.

"How much farther?" Raynor asked.

"Only a few more minutes. Be patient."

It took another five minutes, but they did reach the Zerg base. The base was situated where the eastern and western canyons merged together. This was the perfect location, since any land attacks would be forced to attack from one entrance. Raynor immediately noticed the two Sunken Towers guarding the entrance, with Spore Colonies not far behind.

"Don't worry," the hunter killer said, as if sensing his thoughts. "The Zerg won't attack you. I ordered them not to."

Raynor gave a nod, signaling that he understood.

The two progressed passed the base defenses and continued further inward. All the Zerg hydralisks and zerglings eyed Raynor, as if they were about to attack. But none did. Finally, at the other side of the base, the Zerg Hatchery came into view.

"I think I've been patient long enough." Raynor said. "What's this threat you've been telling me about?"

The hunter killer stopped and turned to face him. "His name is Cratious. Those Protoss who attacked us earlier were his servants. He is a Protoss archon who was at one time highly respected. He taught everyone from zealots to the newly recruited Dark Templar how to fight in battle, among other things.

"Then he joined his brethren Protoss and the Terrans in battle against the Zerg to destroy the Overmind. He fought well, and when the battle was over, he was commemorated for his valor.

"That's when things turned north. He became greedy, and bought the support of twelve dark archons. They consumed everyone's mind they could, brainwashing them to support Cratious. In time, anyone in powerful positions was coerced into either doing his bidding, or supporting him. Those who they couldn't, they were terminated.

"Now, he's so powerful, that even Kerrigan is beginning to fear him. At one word, Cratious could destroy all the Zerg have worked and died for."

"How do you know this?" Raynor asked.

The hunter killer answered. "In time, rumors started spreading that Cratious was using trickery to gain his power. They started on Auir, then ever so slowly spread across countless systems. We only heard about it when Kerrigan did."

The hunter killer turned to face Raynor again. "True, the Zerg may not have the same... ideals that you do; but imagine if something could literally manipulate your thoughts in order to support its rise to power. Only a select few living on any planet are strong enough to withstand the manipulation of the dark archons, but they are countlessly outnumbered. Many systems have already fallen prey. No one, not even you _humans _are safe."

Raynor was silent. "So, what are you proposing?"

"Cratious is growing more and more powerful every minute. Even if all the Zerg in existence were to wage battle against Cratious, we would surely be defeated before Cratious broke a sweat. However, if two or even three armies stood up against Cratious and his forces..."

"Maybe they would be able to stand a chance." Raynor finished.

The hunter killer gave a nod. "I know you don't trust me human, and I don't blame you for that. However, you need to make the choice now. Are you going to let Cratious sweep control over every system in existence? Killing all who stand in his way and forcing us to live like mindless slaves? Or are you going to do what you can to prevent that from happening? It's up to you."

Raynor was silent for a few moments. Not only was he still taking in the story the hunter killer had told him, but he was surprised at how much he believed it. He hadn't expected to trust the hunter killer so well. Despite the fact that he was still unsure what to make of what he just found out, he replied. "Cratious'll never know what hit him."

A smile seemed to appear on the hunter killer's face. "Good."

"By the way, you got a name?" Raynor asked.

"The name's Drakura." he then walked passed Raynor. "Go to your ship, and inform Praetor Fenix about what you've just learned. If he can help us, the better our chances against Cratious."

Raynor gave a nod, then turned and walked back to his ship. Upon entering, Raynor went to a small screen attached to a COM station. He turned it on, and switched to Fenix's frequency. "Fenix, you read me? It's Raynor."

After a few seconds, Fenix's appeared on the screen. "Loud and clear. What is it?"

"You will not believe this one Fenix," Raynor said. "I was attacked by some Protoss who were being led by someone named Cratious. You ever hear of him?"

"Cratious?" Fenix was surprised. "Are you and your men alright?"

Raynor nodded. "We're okay. But we couldn't have lasted like we did without the help of the Zerg."

As Raynor had expected, shock appeared on Fenix's face. "The Zerg?"

"They helped us survive against the Protoss, and the leader of the group is a hunter killer by the name of Drakura. He told me that Cratious was the one who ordered the Protoss to attack us, and that Cratious is becoming more and more like an oppressive dictator, killing those who oppose him. Kind of like a guy named Adolf Hitler, who once ruled through the same principles on Earth."

Fenix was silent for a moment. Then he said. "Word has reached me about Cratious' supposed conquests. I just never thought that Cratious would go that far."

"Believe it or not, something about Drakura makes me trust him." Raynor paused for a moment. "I've allied myself with Drakura in an attempt to stop Cratious from getting any more power than he already has. Can you help us?"

"Us?" Fenix asked. "Ally with the Zerg?"

"Only until we know what the true story with Cratious is. If Drakura was wrong, we'll both quit on the spot."

Fenix was silent. "I may not trust Drakura like you do... but I do trust you, Raynor. For now, I'll join your alliance. Just hope that Drakura really is as trustworthy as you think he is. You and Drakura meet me here on Auir at 1800 hours, and we'll talk about a plan of action."

Raynor gave a nod. "Understood." He cut the communication and Fenix's disappeared from the screen. He then contacted Drakura. "Drakura, Fenix has accepted our offer and wants us to meet him on Auir. Get in an overlord and come with me to Auir so we can come up with some kind of plan."

Drakura hissed. "Very well."

In three minutes, an overlord finally reached the Hyperion. "Let's go," came Drakura's voice through the helm communicator.

The Hyperion lifted off, and then flew to Auir with the overlord not far behind.

Halfway to Auir, Fenix's voice came through the helm communicator. "Raynor, I need help. Protoss forces are attacking me and my men. Hurry!"

"We're on our way," Raynor said, gunning the throttle on the Hyperion to full. 'I hope we can make it to Fenix on time,' he thought to himself. 'I already lost Kerrigan to a ranting lunatic, I don't want to lose Fenix the same way.'


End file.
